82 pounds of marijuana found after Interstate 80 traffic stop

CORALVILLE - Eighty-two pounds of marijuana were found after a traffic stop on Interstate 80 Thursday night.

According to the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, around 9:05 p.m., deputies pulled over a vehicle near the 240 mile marker on Interstate 80. Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said the deputy wasn't doing a drug interdiction project, but is trained in interdiction - the action of intercepting and preventing the movement of a prohibited commodity or person.

Instead, the deputy spotted the driver, Juan D. Salcedo, 24, of New York City, driving under the speed limit in the left lane of the interstate, which is a violation.

During the traffic stop, Salcedo and his passenger, Jairo Rodriguez, 32, of Bronx; told the deputy they had flown from New York to Florida and from Florida to California. The men opted to drive back to New York from California, which raised the deputy's suspicions, Pulkrabek said.

'I think it would raise suspicion in any average human,” Pulkrabek said. 'That is going to raise your suspicion. It's about asking questions.”

Both Salcedo and Rodriguez consented to a search of the vehicle, Pulkrabek said. The deputy found 82.19 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of the vehicle, which Salcedo said he rented to drive back to New York.

Salcedo and Rodriguez both face charges of controlled substance violation, a felony; and Iowa drug tax stamp violation.

l Comments: (319) 398-8238; lee.hermiston@thegazette.com